‘No more sanctions for Myanmar’

JAKARTA – Military-run Myanmar is in danger of becoming a failed state but Europe should not impose more sanctions, because that would only hurt its poverty-stricken citizens, a top European official said yesterday.

European Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten, urged the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to take a tougher approach to member Myanmar. “In Europe we have applied some sanctions.We’ve imposed a visa ban on travel to Europe, we’ve imposed a block on the sale of arms, we’ve frozen financial assets,” Patten, in Jakarta to attend a meeting of Asia-Pacific foreign ministers on Friday, said in a speech.”I would be extremely reluctant to go any further.Why? Because the victims would not be members of the regime, but the ordinary people of Myanmar, of Burma, who are already in wretched condition,” he said.Patten said Myanmar, through human rights violations, forced labour, illegal drugs production and bad economic management posed a security threat to the rest of Asia.”You shouldn’t be surprised if we in Europe are concerned that what we may be seeing is the explosive creation of another failed state.”The commissioner, who was Britain’s last governor of Hong Kong before the territory was handed back to China seven years ago, urged Beijing, which is one of Yangon’s main allies, to take a tougher line against the military government.- Nampa-Reuters”In Europe we have applied some sanctions.We’ve imposed a visa ban on travel to Europe, we’ve imposed a block on the sale of arms, we’ve frozen financial assets,” Patten, in Jakarta to attend a meeting of Asia-Pacific foreign ministers on Friday, said in a speech.”I would be extremely reluctant to go any further.Why? Because the victims would not be members of the regime, but the ordinary people of Myanmar, of Burma, who are already in wretched condition,” he said.Patten said Myanmar, through human rights violations, forced labour, illegal drugs production and bad economic management posed a security threat to the rest of Asia.”You shouldn’t be surprised if we in Europe are concerned that what we may be seeing is the explosive creation of another failed state.”The commissioner, who was Britain’s last governor of Hong Kong before the territory was handed back to China seven years ago, urged Beijing, which is one of Yangon’s main allies, to take a tougher line against the military government.- Nampa-Reuters